Savage 1899B - .38-55 back together

24 December 2005, 09:03

Thought some of you might enjoy this... I've got some picts of my 1907 vintage Savage 1899B in .38-55 after having it rebuilt. Before I get flamed for doing such to an old rifle I must state that the former condition of the barrel (a true key-holer) and stock were pretty trashed. The original octagon barrel was relined and markings retained. The split, chipped out old stock was replaced with new wood with a 3/4" longer LOP. Crescent buttplate and lever were sent out for color-case treatment. These pictures don't do the real rifle justice however...
Left
Left Close
Buttplate
All the work was done by a local Boise shop where my old friend works

Jeff P

24 December 2005, 10:56

Frank Martinez

Looks like he did a great job for you.
Let us know how she shoots.
Frank

25 December 2005, 00:44

jhrosier

Very nice indeed!
Looks like you took a rusted out relic and made a beautiful classic sporter from it.
The wood is great. Can I assume that it is glass bedded to prevent splitting?
The only thing that I would have done different would be to use a checkered steel, shotgun style buttplate. The cresent buttplate is very pretty, but I've found them to be quite uncomfortable for anything but offhand shooting.
Congrats on a job well done and saving a nice old rifle from the scrap heap.

25 December 2005, 09:48

Pfeifer

I had it relined early on and it shot very well with my favorite .38-55 cast loads. So I decided to take it the next step and have Dick do the wood and bluing on it. This rifle is not yet glassed but that is normally what I do as part of my restoration to a 99 buttstock - especially building up the "ears" that lock the front into the receiver. This prevents the buttstock tipping. Most of the ears are worn on the old stocks and thus make for a loose fitting stock.
I guess I don't mind the crescent buttplate on the old calibers - a .308W, now that's a different story! I recently put a 1930 vintage 99H back together and have yet to shoot it with it's carbine buttplate. It is a neat little carbine in .30-30 with a minty bore. I recently picked up a Redfield 70 receiver peep for this 99H with a Merit #4 aperture that I will mount and use for load development.
99H buttstock
99H Right
Merry Christmas! Jeff P

25 December 2005, 16:54

Gatogordo

Really a nice restoration job. Congratulations.

The .38-55 is a nearly forgotten cartridge that does a great job. Seems to be making a minor comeback and I'm happy to see that.

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